Monday, January 25, 2016

So ... no rain ... I think anyone could be a weather person and I believe I have pointed this out before.  I could say it will be in the 65 to 75 degree range with a 20% chance of rain.  So, if it rains, than I was right.  But if it does NOT rain, I was right!  And giving myself a 10 degree gap is pretty safe.  I may through in there "with some clouds" and some could be one but you will probably miss it because you were not looking at that exact moment it passed by.  Also it was three clouds originally but then they merged into one.  Weather people are useless.

 Weekly Update:
Tired, so so tired.  Still recovering from 12 hour days and I still had more 12 hour days!  In fact for while there I had more than 12 hour days till they realized that was incorrect.  Oh schedules and errors ... what are you going to do about it.  I am finding myself falling asleep before 10 PM but then waking up to go to bed and not being able to sleep ... what is that?!  How does that happen?  When I wake up I try to use very little to no energy and when I finally make it to the bed ... I am awake!

 At the movies:
A new #1 at the box office again, after 5 weeks in limited and then wide release is "The Revenant" with 16 million and now past 100 mil cume for domestic box office.  Has solid momentum with the award wins and Oscar buzz that it should get north of 150 when it is said and done.  Holding ground at #2 is "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" with another 14.3 mil and just shy of 900 mil cume.  At the current pace it should get there sometime after next weekend however still short about 200 mil world wide to take the #2 spot for all-time.  Dropping down to #3 is "Ride Along 2" with another 13 mil and a pretty fast burn.  New at #4 is Dirty Grandpa with 11.5 mil and right were we thought it would be.  Rounding off the top 5 is The Boy with 11.2 mil and also right at expectations.

New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one this week as The 5th Wave only earned 10.7 mil and enough for 6th place.  Well below expectations for this high budget science fiction film

Quote of the week:
"The past, the present and the future are really one: they are today." - Harriet Beecher Stowe

Facts & Tips:
At latitude 60 degrees south, it is possible to sail clear around the world without touching land.

 "Well, what a group. Hear No Evil, See No Evil, and Feel No Pain. What's wrong with you people?" - Morgan Fairchild as Susan Taylor in the TV series "Mork & Mindy."

posted by McDuck @ 00:53 0 comments

Monday, January 18, 2016

RAIN ... well, at least a day or two of it but we are supposed to get some crazy down pours very soon.  They are talking flash flood warnings, prepare to be trapped in your homes and get those drain gutters checked kind of weather!  But we really need the rain and bad.  People are happy with one day but we need weeks of rain to refill the reservoir and get some snow back on those mountains.  We do not need inches of snow but feet of snow because as it melts, it continues the water supply for us and having a few inches, half of that goes back into the ground before it even reaches us.  Oh storms, please come and stay for awhile.  Do not listen to those who complain because they have no clue of the bigger picture of trouble we are in and only thing that one day is good enough.  One day ... geez people are stupid.

 Weekly Update:
I am trying to remember what I did this past week but honestly it is a complete blank.  I was suppose to go to some events but I canceled on them because I felt a cold coming.  I wanted to nip that in the bud because with this cold weather and anticipated rain, I do not want to be sick.  This weather only encourages it to stay longer and do not need that please.  Although I will say since a couple of years ago I try to keep a supply of Kleenex and cough drops handy.  Neither of which go bad and I discover friends need them so I do run through my cough drops pretty fast but that is OK.  I get the nice Costco 6-pack of sugar-free halls.  That will last me for awhile and they are on sale a lot too.

 At the movies:A new #1 at the box office as the crown is passed to comedy.  Winning the box office this weekend is Ride Along 2 with a solid 34 million and very good for January in general.  Above expectations and something different for this time of year.  After several Golden Globe wins and Oscar nominations, "The Revenant" is at #2 with an extra 29.5 mil and just shy of the 100 mil mark.  It should reach that probably by the end of next weekend.  Dropping down to #3 after 4 weeks is "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" with an another 25.1 mil as it hits 850 mil cume and will fall short of 1 billion domestic.  It still has a chance to hit the #2 worldwide mark but at this rate unlikely to take the #1 crown from "Avatar."  New at #4 is 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi with 16 mil and good word-of-mouth.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Daddy's Home" with 9.3 mil more.

 New movies that did not make the top 5:
Just one this week as Norm of the North earns 6.7 mil and the #6 spot ... and right at expectations for this rental style movie.

 Quote of the week:
"Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount." - Clare Boothe Luce

 Facts & Tips:At room temperature, the average air molecule travels at the speed of a rifle bullet.

 "I asked for a replacement for O'Riley and this is what I get.  A useless, skinny, untrained snot.  Let me be clear, I intend to trade you a-s-a-p.  My army has been undefeated for the last 21 battles.  I'm trying to get into command school.  You can get your training at someone else's expense." - Moises Arias as Bonzo Madrid in "Ender's Game."

posted by McDuck @ 00:38 0 comments

Monday, January 11, 2016

GOLDEN GLOBE EDITION

 This weekend we had the annual Golden Globe Awards which is pretty much the start of the award season shows.  This show covers both movies and television, ranging from actors to music both domestic and foreign.  Most say this sets the stage for other awards which is partially true but the majority of voting is already done by the time this show comes out.  But it is a neat way to gauge how things may come out for the rest of the season till the final award show, the Oscars.  It is a nice prestigious award with a voting pool of about only 100 people.  Compared to the Oscars who have thousands voting.

 Weekly Update:
This week was nothing but busy!  Kicked off Thursday with a special screening of the film "Brooklyn" and a little reception afterwards.  Ran into just one person:

 *Saoirse Ronan - Star of the film and super sweet!

 Then on Friday attend a special pre-Globe party for the movie "Spotlight" and ran into a few people:

 *Rami Malek - best known for the "Night at the Museum" franchise a very cool guy.
*Chris Noth - best known for "Sex and the City" and an OK guy.
*M.C. Hammer - too legit to quit and an awesome guy!
*James Woods - so many to pick but I like the voice of Hades from the movie "Hercules" and way cool guy!
*Michael Keaton - "Mr. Mom," "Beetlejuice" and the original "Batman" movie ... a nice guy.
*Christopher Lloyd - "Taxi" and "Back to the Future" should be enough ... very quick guy.

 Sunday was the big day but also utter chaos ... The Golden Globes!  It was fun to hang out and see many old friends.  The take on pictures was very low this year but there were so many complications with the party I was with.  Still manage some though:

 *Brad Garrett - all around funny man and super cool guy!
*Terrence Howard - original Iron Man movie and he was just OK.
*Colin Hanks - best known for the film "Orange County" and really nice guy.
*Keir O'Donnell - I know him from "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" but a very cool guy!
*Josh Brener - from "Silicon Valley" and a very nice guy.
*Kumail Nanjiani - also from "Silicon Valley" and very chill guy.
*Paul Dano - from "Little Miss Sunshine" and way nice guy!
*Elijah Kelley - know him from the film "Red Tails" and a cool guy.
*Dule Hill - I know him best from the TV show "Psych" and really cool guy.
*Ridley Scott - director of "Alien" and "Blade Runner," very quiet and nice man.
*Stefani Germanotta - best known as Lady Gaga and incredibly sweet!

 At the movies:
The force continues strong for the 4th week in a row ... Still holding on to #1 is "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" earning another 41.6 million and has now passed 800 million domestic cume.  This is where it may start to slow down and currently looks like it may be shy of 1 billion.  New for a wide-release is The Revenant at #2 earning a solid 38 mil and the award season should carry it to a potential 100 mil cume.  Holding ground at #3 is "Daddy's Home" with an extra 15 mil and has surpassed the 100 mil cume mark.  New at #4 is The Forest with only 13.1 mil and very close to expectations.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Sisters" with another 7.2 mil and doing well for this R-rated comedy.

Quote of the week:
'Life is the art of drawing without an eraser." - John W. Gardner

 Facts & Tips:
The typewriter was invented in Milwaukee, WI in 1867.

 "All right, we all need to look into our hearts and go, "Do I think this dude is gonna die in a few years or not?" Is old Leland here gonna fight off a man... who goes by the last name "Reaper," first name "Grim"? Or will this BASE-jumping, crocodile-wrestling, shark-diving, volcano-luging, bear-fighting, snake-wrangling, motocross-racing bastard die?" - Philip Seymour Hoffman as Sandy Lyle in "Along Came Polly."

posted by McDuck @ 01:43 0 comments

Monday, January 04, 2016

NEW YEAR'S EDITION

 And still no rain ... how sad.  But they say starting Monday through the rest of this coming week, RAIN!!!  So, we will see how it looks because all weekend it was very clear, also a bit dry and semi-cold.  Even at night this week it did not get that cold which suprised me because the week before it felt like it was going to freeze over ... if we had any water to freeze over with.  But it was at least, what I call "see your breathe" weather which has simply been very rare this past couple of years.  Something is not right and it is getting worse.  But hopefully things will turn around for that, who knows.

 Weekly Update:
Another holiday and another day of really not doing much again.  Holidays and regular days really seem to just merge together for me.  I just stayed in for New Year's Eve and wanted to avoid all the crazy drivers out there.  Plus I was just plain lazy.  No party invites which was just fine for me plus I had to be up early Friday morning by 7AM so it did not seem wise to go out and do anything anyway.  So the couch and TV won which I feel asleep on for part of the night, woke up to walk to bed and then went to sleep till midnight struck and fireworks started to go off around town.  Thanks, that woke me up and started to scare Orion out of his mind.  He was shaking so bad which seems really odd because he has heard fireworks before, not sure why this effected him so badly.  Poor puppy, he snuggled up so close and it felt like I had a vibrating pillow.  The next day he was good though and slept a lot, probably because he did not get much the night before.

 This happened last minute!  Received an invite to a special screening event but it turned out to be a small party of about 30 people.  Among the guest who I was able to get a photo with included:

 *Jason Segel - Best known from the TV show "How I Meet Your Mother" and a really great guy!
*Saul Rubinek - I know him best from a couple of episodes of "Stargate SG-1" and a nice guy.
*Sean Penn - award winning and all around nice guy.
*Jack Nicholson - need I say more ... awesome guy.

 At the movies:
The New Year weekend started off with some great numbers as it traditionally is a slow time with award season and folks in general just getting back from vacations.  Leading the way for the third week in a row is "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" with another 88.3 mil and a below average drop.  It is now at 740 million domestic cume and slightly on par to be shy of a billion when it is all said and done. Worldwide it is now at 1.5 billion and holds the #6 spot for all-time record.  It should overtake #6 (Furious 7) and #5 (Marvel's The Avengers) spot in a matter of days while being in striking distance to #3 (currently Jurassic World).  Holding ground at #2 is "Daddy's Home" earning another 29 mil and now very close to the 100 mil cume club.  Another strong showing for this comedy with a very low drop from last week.  New at #3 is The Hateful Eight with 16.2 mil and almost right on target for our predictions.  Many had it much higher but it just did not feel like it.  Increasing in box office from last week is "Sisters" in the #4 spot with an extra 12.6 mil.  Rounding off the top 5 is "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip" with another 11.8 mil and after this week should drop pretty fast.

Quote of the week:
"They can conquer who believe they can." - Virgil
Facts & Tips:
Ancient Chinese warriors would show off to their enemies before battle, by juggling.

 "Hi! My name is Brad Majors, and this is my fiancee, Janet Weiss. I wonder if you'd mind helping us. You see, our car broke down a few miles up the road. Do you have a phone we might use?" - Barry Bostwick as Brad Majors - A Hero in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

posted by McDuck @ 01:40 0 comments